The present invention generally relates to cases for accommodating rotary recording mediums (hereinafter simply referred to as discs), and more particularly to a disc accommodating case in which connection between a lid and a jacket can be positively performed.
Conventionally, cases have been proposed for accommodating a disc such as a video disc recorded with a video signal and an audio disc recorded with a pulse code modulated (PCM) audio signal. In this type of a disc case, the disc remains at a predetermined position within a reproducing apparatus by performing an operation in which the disc case having the disc accommodated therein is inserted within the reproducing apparatus and then pulled out from the reproducing apparatus. The disc within the reproducing apparatus is incased inside the disc case when the empty disc case is inserted into the reproducing apparatus, so that the disc can be obtained outside the reproducing apparatus in a state accommodated within the disc case. A disc accommodating case of this type is proposed in a U.S. patent application Ser. No. 263,851, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,419,709 entitled "CASE FOR A DISC-SHAPED RECORDING MEDIUM" filed on May 14, 1981 in which the assignee is the same as that of the present application. This previously proposed disc case comprises a jacket having a space for accommodating the disc and an opening for allowing the disc to go in and out of the jacket, and a lid member inserted through the opening of the jacket for closing the opening of the jacket. The lid member has resilient arms provided on the right and left ends, and these resilient arms can be deformed and bent along the width direction of the lid member. Engaging fingers are respectively provided at tip ends of these arms, and these engaging fingers engage with depressions which are formed on the inner side at the right and left parts of the jacket in the vicinity of the jacket opening. The arms and the engaging fingers are unitarily formed with the lid main body, and both are made of a resin. This disc accommodating case operates together with recording medium reproducing apparatus provided with an inserting opening through which the case is inserted, an engagement releasing member for releasing the connection between the lid member and the jacket, a lid member holding member, and a disc clamping member provided at the innermost part of the recording medium reproducing apparatus opposite to the inserting opening with respect to a turntable which rotates the disc, and a jacket opening enlarging member provided in the vicinity of the inserting opening, capable of moving between the position in the vicinity of the inserting opening and the innermost part of the recording medium reproducing apparatus above the turntable.
Upon reproduction of the disc, the disc accommodating case is inserted into the reproducing apparatus through the inserting opening. The arms of the lid member are resiliently bent by the engagement releasing member, so that the engaging fingers slip out from the depressions in the jacket. Accordingly, the engagement of the lid member with respect to the jacket is released. The lid member which is released of the connection, is held by the holding member. Moreover, when the disc case is inserted into the innermost part of the reproducing apparatus, the clamping member enters from the enlarged opening of the jacket to clamp the disc within the jacket. The jacket is pulled out in an empty state leaving behind the lid member held by the holding member and the disc clamped by the clamping member, when the jacket is pulled out from within the reproducing apparatus in a direction opposite to the direction of the insertion. In addition, the empty jacket is inserted into the reproducing apparatus when the reproduction is completed. This time, the disc relatively enters within the jacket, and the holding with respect to the lid member by the holding member is released. The arms of the lid member disengage from the engagement releasing member, and are resiliently restored to their natural states. The engaging fingers thus enter within the depressions in the jacket, and the lid member accordingly becomes engaged with the jacket.
Accordingly, the lid member is held at the innermost part of the reproducing apparatus during reproduction, and even after the reproduction is completed unless the disc is recovered from within the reproducing apparatus. When the lid member is in the held state, the arms engage with the connection releasing member and remain in inwardly bent states. However, since these arms are made of resin, if the disc reproducing operation is performed under a high temperature and high humidity condition with a temperature of 55.degree. C. and a humidity of 90%, for example, or if the disc is left within the reproducing apparatus in an unrecovered state in the above condition with high temperature and high humidity, the resin will soften. Therefore, the arms will undergo plastic deformation and will remain in the inwardly bent states, and will not be restored resiliently even when the arms disengage from the engagement releasing member. Thus, the engaging fingers cannot be restored even after disengaging from the engagement releasing member until these fingers enter within the depressions in the jacket. Hence, there was a serious disadvantage in that the lid member may not engage with the jacket. This means that it may become impossible to recover the disc within the disc case, and an accident may occur in which the lid member falls within the reproducing apparatus.